Gainesboro expanding its law enforcement capabilities and securing federal funding through a new partnership with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Chief of Police Mickey Smith said at Thursday’s Mayor and Aldermen meeting the department joined a task force providing specialized certification for all five of the town’s officers. Smith said the agreement includes a $100,000 initial allocation for transportation and quarterly stipends of $7,500 per officer to be used for equipment.
“If it’s on one of the businesses or something that if they get in a fight and we’re there for another legal reason and we ask for identification to do a report or if we catch them on a traffic violation and they don’t have and they hand us a Mexican DL then we can run it,” Smith said.
Smith said the department has already identified approximately 15 individuals through the program over the last month and a half. The funding generated by the partnership is deposited into the general fund to purchase items such as ammunition and bulletproof vests.
“One of the gentlemen had a federal warrant out of it,” Smith said. “The other one had a warrant out of Mexico for human trafficking and drug trafficking. So they’re coming through here.”
Smith said the certification allows local officers to handle cases directly rather than waiting for outside agencies to arrive. The program also involves checking on the welfare of unaccompanied minors alongside the Department of Children’s Services.
“The new governor’s done said that every law enforcement agency across the state is going to have to be a part of this task force,” Smith said. “So and the sheriff’s department and us have done went that first step.”
Smith said the jail has also been tasked with becoming part of the initiative. The department submitted its first invoice for the quarterly stipends earlier this week.
In other business, officials approved an update to the Occupational Safety and Health Program plan ahead of a December inspection.